1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image stabilization apparatus provided with a mechanism configured to correct image blur of an optical image formed by an image pickup optical system and an image pickup apparatus to which the image stabilization apparatus is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, image pickup apparatuses are generally commercialized which are configured to sequentially photoelectrically convert optical images formed by an image pickup optical system using an image pickup device or the like, store the image signals thereby acquired in a storage medium as image data (still image) or video data (movie) in a predetermined mode and transmit the acquired image signals to an image display apparatus so as to be able to sequentially displayed.
Furthermore, in recent years, various camera systems are becoming widespread which install and fix the aforementioned type of image pickup apparatus outdoors or indoors so as to be able to monitor a situation of a region or space to be imaged all the time intended for fixed-point observation, monitoring or crime prevention.
Furthermore, among such camera systems, a type of network camera system or the like is being commercialized which includes an image pickup apparatus, a terminal apparatus and an image display apparatus or the like, all of which are connected to an existing network such as the Internet. Such a network camera system is configured such that by operating the terminal apparatus, an operator (user) can remotely operate the image pickup apparatus via the network, receive image data and video data acquired by the image pickup apparatus through the terminal apparatus via the network, display and confirm images based on the received image data and video data using an image display apparatus connected to the terminal apparatus.
Furthermore, various types of so-called vehicle-mounted camera systems or the like are commercialized and widely used in which a type of image pickup apparatus similar to that applied to the above network camera systems or the like is installed and fixed in a vehicle or the like to thereby display, on an image display apparatus, images of situations of a region which becomes a blind spot when seen from a driver's seat such as a rearward region or a sideward region of the vehicle, consecutively pick up images of regions surrounding the running vehicle to thereby record movie data for predetermined time periods before and after a predetermined time point (e.g., a time point at which an abnormal impact is received (a so-called time point of accident occurrence)) in a recording medium and use the acquired forward field of view images or the like to control a lane keeping function or emergency stop function.
The image pickup apparatus applied to camera systems or the like of such a type tend to be often installed and fixed outdoors, indoors or inside or outside a vehicle or the like where the image pickup apparatus is not easily accessible to an operator's (user's) hand and is operated continuously in such a stationary state for a long period of time.
On the other hand, as image pickup apparatuses applied to such a type of camera systems or the like, image pickup apparatuses provided with an image stabilization apparatus are generally commercialized which are configured to be able to correct so-called image blur caused by a phenomenon in which the image pickup apparatus shakes when an image pickup operation is in progress, causing an optical image formed by an image pickup optical system to become unstable on a light receiving surface of the image pickup device.
Examples of such a type of image stabilization apparatus include a so-called lens shift type optical image stabilization mechanism whereby image stabilization is performed by moving, for example, part of optical lenses making up the image pickup optical system within a plane orthogonal to an optical axis O of the image pickup optical system and a so-called sensor shift type optical image stabilization mechanism whereby image stabilization is performed by moving, for example, an image pickup device within a plane along a light receiving surface of the image pickup device (within the plane orthogonal to the optical axis O of the image pickup optical system).
Since the image pickup apparatuses in the above network camera systems or the like are continuously operated for a long period of time as described above, the image stabilization apparatuses or the like also continue operating all the time.
Regarding image pickup apparatuses in the conventional network camera systems or the like, various image pickup apparatuses provided with abnormality detecting means which, for example, receives remote operation from a terminal apparatus side and detects the condition of the image pickup apparatus such as the presence or absence of problems and abnormalities in the device are being proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3738682.
The device abnormality detection system disclosed in above Japanese Patent No. 3738682 includes a plurality of local terminals to be managed, an abnormality judgment apparatus installed in the install locations of the local terminals and configured to judge the occurrence of abnormalities including malfunctions in the local terminals and a management side terminal provided in a location far from the install locations of the local terminals, the local terminals having self-diagnosing means configured to function at the request from the abnormality judgment apparatus to diagnose the conditions of the local terminals and notify the abnormality judgment apparatus of the diagnosis result, and the abnormality judgment apparatus having a function of requesting, upon a request from the management side terminal, execution of a diagnosis by the self-diagnosing means on the local terminals and a function of receiving the diagnosis result from the local terminals and informing, when the occurrence of an abnormality or a symptom of the abnormality in the local terminals is detected from the diagnosis result, the management side terminal of the abnormality.